Israel seizes more Syrian territory and attacks chemical weapons sites

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Israel seizes more Syrian territory and attacks chemical weapons sites in response to overthrow of Bashar al-Assad regime By Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Israeli Defense Minister Kate said Monday that the country's military is continuing to seize “high ground” inside. Syria After tanks and infantry moved into the former demilitarized zone.

The move comes as regional powers are vying for a 12-day offensive by the HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate that has led disputed rebels to overthrow it. Assad dynasty on Sunday.

Russia, a longtime supporter of Assad's regime, which maintains naval and air bases in Syria, says it is “doing everything possible to communicate” with the country's new leader.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would need a “serious dialogue” on its military presence in Syria, state media Ria Novosti reported Monday.

Opponents of the regime are also concerned that its decline could lead to further instability in the country. Area.

The United States has carried out dozens of attacks against ISIS targets in Syria, while Turkish-backed Syrian fighters have been fighting Kurdish forces in the north of the country.

The vast border of the Israeli-Syrian border is controlled by the 1974 ceasefire agreement, including a key UN peacekeeping force to monitor the agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the border area on Sunday, said the agreement had collapsed after Syrian army units abandoned their positions, with Israeli forces occupying them “to ensure there were no embedded hostile forces.” “It borders Israel.” .

Israel has long been a bitter enemy of the Assad regime, an ally of Iran and Lebanon-based Hizbollah militia, but direct clashes between the two countries have been rare since the 1980s.

Katz on Monday said the Israeli army would create a “security zone” beyond the old defenses that would clear “heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure”.

As part of the offensive, Israeli commandos on Sunday captured a strategic Syrian military position at the highest point on the Golan Heights, known as Jabal al-Shaykh.

Katz added that Israel would reach out to local people, including the Syrian community of Druze, as well as continue attacks against Iranian operations to smuggle weapons to Lebanon-based Hizbollah.

The Israeli military has also been strengthening its border guards and digging trenches to stop machine-infiltration attempts, while making it clear that anyone approaching Israeli positions will be evicted.

“Israel is taking advantage of and blocking (the Syrian side) now,” said one observer. “Israel does not want to intervene, but because of the proximity (of what is happening across the border in Syria) this is “The interests of Israel.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Monday that Israel had attacked suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria with airstrikes over the weekend aimed at undermining the Assad regime before they fell. In the hands of the rebels.

Israeli warplanes have been working hard against such “strategic weapons” since the rebels' offensive in Syria began two weeks ago. The employee added that such ability “should not fall into the wrong hands.”

On Monday, Katz ordered the military to continue strikes across Syria to destroy weapons, including “surface-to-air missiles.” Earth-to-ground rocket defense, long-range rocket launchers and land-to-sea missiles. “Missiles.”

Several airstrikes were reported Sunday and Monday across the country, including on security buildings and air bases around Damascus, as well as the southern cities of Dara'a and Suweidah.

Commenting on the Israeli incursion into Syria for the first time in more than five decades, Netanyahu said: “This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.”

Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Berlin